On the Yankees beat

Here's how the Yankees plan to line up their outfield, at least for the short-term.

Melky Cabrera told Lee Mazzilli during last night's game that he is more comfortable playing leftfield than rightfield, so the Yankees are planning to use him in leftfield essentially everyday. "We'll see how it looks," Joe Torre said. Bubba Crosby will play rightfield against righthanders and Bernie Williams will play against lefthanders.

Torre met with the team for less than 10 minutes before batting practice to tell them he spoke with Hideki Matsui and that he's in good spirits. Trainer Gene Monahan addressed the team to give them specifics about Matsui's surgery.

While the team is sticking to the three-month minimum timetable, the sense in the clubhouse is that if Matsui returns this season, it won't be until September at the earliest. Matsui has told people he hopes to be at Yankee Stadium tomorrow morning to see his teammates. George Steinbrenner tried to call Matsui this afternoon at the hospital, but has not been able to reach him, publicist Howard Rubenstein said.